Wire marking machine



United. States Patent {72] Inventors Paul F. Good Lutherville; Robert W. Oshman, Baltimore, Maryland [21] Appl. No. 765,833 [221 Filed Oct. 8, 1968 [45] Patented Sept. 22, 1970 [73] Assignce Westinghouse Electric Corporation Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania a corporation of Pennsylvania [54] WIRE MARKING MACHINE 5 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

,57.) .8. CI 118/6, 118/7,118/33,118/44.118/68.118/219. 118/223.118/241:226/44:242/75.5 [51] lnt.Cl B05c 11/12 [50] Field ofSearch ll8/241,6, 7,4; 226/44; 72/(lnquired); 242/755. 1 17/(lnquired), (Control Digest); 1 18/(Wire and Cord Digest), (Roller Digest), (Misc. Digest), 33

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,773,709 8/1930 Daniels 242/755 1,801,374 4/1931 Stock 118/6 1 1 $3 ,1 I I l e- I i 1 I1 i 1 l 1 l n I 1 '1 1 I 1 MT e1 Primary EmminerMorris Kaplan /ltn u-rwysF. H. Henson, E. P. Klipfel and D. E. Straitiff ABSTRACT: An improved wire marking machine in which use of two sets of adjacent inking rolls for making circumferential code color markings at intervals on intermittently advanced sections of plastic coated wire from a motorized payout reel is automatically transferred from one ink roll set to the other according to completion of color marking of respective preselective lengths of wire, without interruption in operation of the wire advancing means. A retractable in-line temperature regulated electric resistance heater oven bakes on the color markings. A reel-size-adjustable level wind mechanism directs wind-up of the color marked wire evenly onto a selected size motorized take-up reel. Spring-biasecfivire looping means control operations of the two motorized reels to maintain limited tension experienced by the wire during its intermittent advancement to the inking rolls and through the heating oven.

Patented Sept. 22, 1970 Sheet MN r L a 6 1 \m J llmlwlwwlllll E llllll h h llll HHHIU HI HIJ I IHHHI VH I I I m @w 5 BY; Robert Wmon 5% WITNESSES Patented Sept. 22, 1970 Z of 5 Sheet Patented Sept. 22, 1970 Sheet FIGLS. j

WIRE MARKING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The field of the invention is machines for making color code marks on plastic coated wire.

Prior art machines for making circumferential color code marking at intervals along plastic coated wire of which applicants are aware have employed marking fingers dipping into and out of ink wells to apply ink to the wire for the circumferential marking and which have required a shutdown of the machine for color pattern changeover, poorly regulated gas operated ovens for baking the color marks onto the wire, slip clutches to correlate the intermittent feed movement of the wire with the wind-up movement of the take-up reel, and a level wind mechanism functioning effectively only with particular sized take-up reels, for example. Any effort to increase the production rate of such prior art machines beyond a certain practical limit resulted in such as the marking fingers tending to splash when dipping into and out of the ink wells, the oven heat tending to be non-uniform and unpredictable, and the level-wind mechanism being compromised with respect to various reel sizes. The down time required for color changeover tended to equal or exceed the running time of the machine. The various sizes of take-up reels tended to become inefficiently wound, and difficulties incident to wire separations under increased tension conditions tended to be increased.

SUMMARY The improved wire marking machine of the present invention, in employing inking rolls in place of inking fingers, in em ploying automatically transferred sets of such rolls, in employing a temperature regulated in-line electric resistance oven, in employing an effective means for controlling tension of the wire during operation of the machine, and in including an adjustable level wind mechanism for directing the wire onto storage reels of various sizes, it has been possible to triple the production rate of wire marking over that obtained by the previous machines discussed above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGS. 1 and 2 are front elevation and top views, respectively of the improved wire marking machine of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an isometric schematic showing certain internal parts of the improved wire marking machine of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a control system for the wire marking machine of the present invention; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are top and side elevation views, respectively, of an improved level winder mechansim embodied in the wire marking machine of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, in operation of the wire marking machine of the present invention, plastic coated wire 5, such as wire coated with polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), under controlled tension from a payout loop 6 supplied from a motorized payout reel is drawn intermittently by a capstan 8 and directed by guide pulleys 9 and 10 slidedly through a wire twister die 11 past two sets 12 and 13 of marking wheels 14, or inking discs, through an electric resistance radiant oven 16, to a tension-controlling take-up loop 18, through a reel-size-adjustable level winder 20, and onto a motorized take-up reel 22. The intermittent advancement of the wire is obtained by an indexing drive mechanism 23 of a commercially available construction having an input shaft 24 driven by a main drive motor MTR-3, gear box 26, and a belt and pulley arrangement 27 to give intermittent turning movement to the capstan 8 and around which several turns of the wire are wound for tractive effort therebetween.

Each of the sets of marking wheels 12 and 13, in the exemplified embodiment set forth herein, includes three inking wheels 14 arranged to provide a horizontal trough-like configuration into which the workpiece wire 5 nests against the peripheries of such inking wheels when raised from a lower retracted position upwardly thereagainst during momentary wire-stopped periods between the intermittent wire-advancement periods. The inking wheels 14 are turned by a gear train 30 arranged such that the wheel 14 at one side of the wire 5 turns oppositely to the wheel or wheels 14 at the opposite side of the wire.

Each of the wheels is affiliated with a respective ink well 32 which is partially filled with an ink of a color selected for obtaining circumferential color code markings on the plastic coated wire. The ink colors of one inking wheel set usually will be different from those of the adjacent wheel set, and in ac cord with a feature of the present invention, the one inking wheel set remains in standby in its lower retracted position during the period that the other set of inking wheels is in use.

Retractable hold down fingers 34, affiliated with each ink wheel set, are moved downwardly into engagement with the top of the plastic coated wire 5 while the respective inking wheel set is raised upwardly into engagement with the bottom of such wire to assure marking engagement of the periphery of such wheels with the wire surface. At the time of such engagement the twister die 11 through which the wire 5 passes will impart turning movemenLof the wire while the inking wheels rotating through their ink wells 32 contact the outer plastic surface of such wire to impart respective circumferential color markings around the surface of the wire while thus being turned in their presence. Raising of the hold-down fingers 34 and lowering of the inking wheels 14 then follows, after which the wire experiences another intermittent advancement step by operation of the capstan 8 to carry the successive inkcolor-marked sections through the resistance heater oven 16 which bakes or sinters on such markings (in route) to the takeup reel 22. In case of Teflon coated wire the colorings employed are available commercially from such as Standard T. Company in the form of fine particles of colored Teflon suspended in a liquid including water. The presence of the ink marks in the oven results in the evaporation of the water, hence drying of the ink, while at the same time partially softening of such ink particles and of the Teflon coating on the wire which results in the partial fusion or sintering therebetween. With such use, oven temperature and a rate of travel of the wire is selected such that the wire is heated to an ink sintering temperature of about 750F.

Such operation of the marking of the plastic coated wire 5 at intervals along its length by use of the one set l2, 13 of inking rolls 14 ensues until a preselected length of such wire has been so marked, as determined by setting of a footage counter in the control system to be described hereinafter, after which use of the one inking roll set 12, 13 is automatically transferred to the other set previously being held on standby for different colored marking of subsequent sections of wire for a preselected length without requiring stopping of the machine and interruption of the intermittent advancement of such wire. 7

The tension-controlling payout loop 6 and take-up loop 18 result from passage of the wire around respective pulleys 36, 37 carried on the ends of dancer arms 40, 41 which pivot around respective rotary joints and are biased by elongated tension coils 42, 43 through the medium of respective lever arms 45, 46 connected to such dancer arms.

As wire 5 is withdrawn from the payout loop 6 successive amounts by operation of the capstan 8 for the intermittent advancement of the wire through the machine, the pulley 36 affiliated with such loop is carried upwardly and swings the dancer arm 40 clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 1, ultimately into engagement with a microswitch, 2LS1 that results in energization of the holding relay 2l-IR, FIG. 4, and establishing of an energizing circuit for the payout reel motor MTR-l by way of holding relay contacts 2I-IR and a second microswitch 2LS2,

which motor is thus brought into operation to turn the payout reel 7 and enable the spring bias on the arm 40 to swing the pulley 36 downward for reformation of payout loop 6 as the wire unwinds from the payout reel, until the arm actuates the microswitch 2LS2. This disestablishes the energizing circuit for the holding relay ZI-IR and the payout reel motor lM. Such circuit as shown schematically in FIG. 4 includes a control relay contact 1C R-C that functions as will be described hereinafter.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, operation of the take-up reel motor MTR-Z is similar to that of operation of the payout reel motor MTR-l. As the capstan 8 feeds the color marked wire from the baking oven 16 to the take-up loop 18, the spring biased dancer arm 41 will actuate the pulley 37 to increase the loop as the dancer arm swings downwardly until it engages a microswitch 3L5! which establishes an energizing circuit for a hold relay 3HR that in turn establishes an energizing circuit for the take-up reel motor MTR-Z by way of holding relay contacts 3l-IR and a second microswitch 3LS2. The take-up reel motor MTR-Z thus comes into operation to wind up the color marked wire 5 from the take-up loop 18 which is thereby made shorter, and, via the pulley 37, causes the dancer arm 4i ultimately to come into contact with the microswitch 3LS2 and open the energizing circuit for the take-up reel motor and the holding relay 3HR.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the payout and take-up looping arrangement insures that the wire will be maintained in controlled tension for proper extension through the twisting, marking and baking portion of the apparatus while at the same time protecting such wire from excessive tension conditions which might tend to cause it to separate. and that by virtue of employing such loop forming means in control of operation of the motorized payout and take-up reels these reels are isolated from direct influence by the intermittent advancement capstan 8 so that its function, speed, and effectiveness is not prejudiced by reactive conditions between the wire and the reels, for example.

The in-line baking oven 16 consists essentially of a number of elongated sheathed resistance heater elements 50 FIG. 2, mounted in circumferential array within a tubular sheath 51 disposed within a hollow insulation-filled enclosure 52. The oven is made to be retractable rearwardly by actuation of a pair of level arms 54 connected to a common shaft 55 and a pair of linkage arms 56 pivotally connected to the ends of such lever arms, respectively, at one end and to the housing of the oven at the opposite end, FIG. 2. The turning of the actuating shaft or rod 55 is obtained by a crank arm 60 operated by a vertically extending pneumatic cylinder 61 which in turn is controlled by a solenoid valve, not shown. The bottom of the oven 16 is supported on roller bearings 63 (FIG. ll) to facilitate such movement of the oven. The front portion of the insulated housing 52 of the oven is provided with a horizontal slot 65 which extends along the oven from end-to-end and which opens inwardly to the center of the heating chamber in which the heater rods are disposed. By virtue of such retractable feature, the oven 16 may be kept in readiness at the desired regulated temperature without undesirably affecting the plastic coating on wire 5 extending between the capstan 8 and the pulley 10 during a temporary line shutdown. Such slot arrangement also facilitates rethreading of the machine which may be necessary from time to time, it being understood that when the oven 16 is in a rearward retracted position extension of wire 5 will be along a line extending in front of the oven outside its slot 65.

Referring to FIG. 3, the twisting die 11 for obtaining oscillatory turning of the wire 5 during marking engagement with the inking rolls 14 is journaled between a pair of horizontallyspaced-apart, vertically-extending pedestal members 67 and is turned alternately in opposite directions slightly more than 360 through the medium of a sprocket wheel 68 attached to the outer periphery of such die cooperating with a length of chain 69 passing over such sprocket wheel and connected at opposite ends to a tension spring 70 and a pivot pin 71 affiliated with a crank arm 72 secured for rotation with a main drive shaft 73 that extends from the indexing drive mechanism 23 and is operated by the main drive motor MTR-3 in conjunction with such mechanism. The opposite end of the tension spring 70 is anchored to a fixed member 74 and rotation of the crank arm 72 during operation of the machine gives simple harmonic motion to one end of the section of chain 69 that results in the tension spring 70 pulling the chain section around the sprocket wheel 68 during the advancing portion of the revolution of such arm 72 and the chain being pulled in the opposite direction by the crank pin 71 as it turns with the arm and away from such sprocket wheel.

The main drive shaft 73 is also employed for raising and lowering the inking wheel sets 12 and 13 in timed relationship with the intermittent advancement of the plastic wire 5 to be color marked, through the medium of respective cams 76 secured to rotate with such drive shaft and respective roller followers 80 and follower arms 84 secured to respective hous ings 30 which enclose the turning gears and shafts on which the inking wheels 14 are removably mounted. The follower arms 84, 85 are journaled on a common auxiliary shaft 87 disposed forwardly of the main drive shaft 73, and this auxiliary shaft is turned by the main drive shaft by way of a chain and sprocket wheel assembly 90 to obtain the rotation of the turning gears (not shown) for the inking wheels 14 through the medium of a respective gear 91 secured for rotation with such auxiliary shaft 87 and an input gear 92 secured to an internal drive gear (not shown) within the housing 30 for such turning gears. A pair of dual pedestals 94 mounted at different fixed longitudinal locations within the housing of the machine provides rotary support for the drive shaft 73 and the auxiliary shaft 87.

Actuation of the wire-hold-down fingers 34 affiliated with each set l2, 13 of inking wheels 14 is provided by a similar arrangement of rotary cams 96 operated from the main drive shaft 73 and including roller followers 98 and follower arms 99 affiliated with finger mounting members 100 which are journaled on the auxiliary shaft 87. Respective helical tension springs 102 are connected to the several follower arms 99 to bias the several followers 98 into respective engagement with the peripheries of the rotary cams 96.

Each of the inking-wheel and hold-down finger sets has a lockout member 304 affiliated with it that is controlled by a g respective LI'lU-S, RI ilU-S solenoid for actuation out of locking engagement with the follower arms 84 and 99 for the inking rolls l4 and hold-down fingers 34 to prevent them from following their respective cams 76 and 96 into operative engagement with the plastic coated wire 5.

As exemplified, each lockout member 104 may include a horizontal rod element 106 having opposite ends that can be swung into grooves in the follower arms 84 and 99 and which is affixed to the lower end of a rocker arm 107 having an upper end operably connected to the plunger of the respective solenoid 105. Spring bias means, not shown, can be affiliated with the rocker arms 104 to bias same toward one position or the other and energization of the solenoid will actuate its plunger to effectuate reverse movement of the rocker arm.

The aforementioned switchover from use of one inking roll and hold-down finger set to the other is obtained by selective operation of the two solenoids 105. Automatic control of such solenoid operation is described hereinafter.

The adjustable-stroke level wind mechanism 20 that affords efficient winding of take-up reels of different lengths is shown in detail in FIGS. 5 and 6. The take-up reel 22 is removably mounted on a shaft 110 driven by speed reducer mechanism 111 affiliated with the take-up reel motor MTR-Z. An extension of such driven shaft M0 through the rear of the speed reducer mechanism housing has a sprocket wheel 114 secured for rotation therewith that is coupled by a chain 115 to a sprocket wheel I16 in the level wind mechanism, that serves to rotate two elongated, spacedapart spur gears 118 that extend parallel to the axis of the take-up reel 22 and its drive shaft 110. Opposite ends of these elongated spur gears 118 are mounted for rotation about fixed axes by roller bearings 119 affiliated with the casing 120 of the mechanism and are arranged to be driven in opposite directions of rotation at the same rate by a pair of constantly-meshing, equal-size gears 122 mounted on and secured for rotation with shaft portions of such elongated gears 118. The mechanism also includes an elongated screw-threaded worm gear 125 that extends through an internally screw threaded member 126 affixed to one end of the casing 120. A projecting end of the worm gear 125 carries a wire guide pulley 128 that is rotatably mounted on such end. Upon being turned in one direction, the worm gear 125 screws outwardly of the internally threaded member 126 and carries the wire guide pulley 128 with it to direct movement of the wire 5 with its circumferential-axially separated color code markings 130 axially along the take-up reel 22 and when turned in the reverse direction the worm gear screws inwardly to carry the wire guide pulley 128 in the reverse direction back across the take-up reel. The mechanism is so constructed and arranged with respect to the take-up reel 22 that in an innermost position of the worm gear 125 the guide pulley 128 will be substantially aligned with the inner flange 132 of the take-up reel 22. Formed integrally with the worm gear 125 is an elongated smooth-surfaced shaft portion 134 that extends outwardly through the rear of the casing 120 by way of a sleeve bearing member that slidably and rotatably supports such shaft portion and therefore one end of the worm gear. To turn the worm gear 125 a spur gear 136 is secured to the shaft portion 134 thereof. To drive such spur gear 136, and hence such worm gear 125, a second gear 138 in constantly meshing engagement with such spur gear 136 is rotatably mounted on a shift lever assemblage 140 that includes two spaced apart arms 142 journaled onto the shaft portion 130 of the worm gear 125 to permit relative turning movement therehetween while abutting shoulder means thereon so as to be transported along the axis of the worm gear 125 during its longitudinal travel. The tilting of the shift lever 140 in one direction about the axis of the worm gear 125 brings the spur gear 138 into meshing engagement with one of the elongated gears 118 to turn such spur gear 138, hence the worm gear 125, in one direction, while tilting the shift lever 140 in the opposite direction retracts such spur gear 138 away from the one elongated spur gear 118 into engagement with the other elongated spur gear 118 for turning of the worm gear 125 in the opposite direction via such spur gear. The size and location of the spur gear 138 on the shift lever 140 is such that once having been brought into engagement with one or the other of the elongated spur gears 118, the reaction forces between such gears tends to maintain the meshing engagement of such spur gear with the elongated gear while such spur gear and shift lever move axially along such elongated gear during the screw-in or screw-out travel of the worm gear. During screw-in travel of the worm gear 125 the shift lever, spur gear 138 is in engagement with the elongated gear 118 directly affiliated with the sprocket wheel 116 and the shift lever 140 is automatically tripped at the end of its travel by a yieldable actuating member in the form of a spring wire finger 144 secured for rotation on such sprocket wheel and projecting axially from an end thereof so as to strike a side face of one of the shift lever arms 142 when it obtains a proximate position with respect thereto. The worm gear 125 thereupon becomes automatically driven forwardly by the other elongated gear 118 until the other shift lever arm engages a second tripping spring wire finger 146 carried on an adjustable collar member 148 secured for rotation with such elongated gear to transfer the shift lever gear 138 into re-engagement with the opposite elongated gear 118 for repeating the screw-in drive of the worm gear. The collar, member 148 carrying the second tripping spring wire 146 is adjustably mounted on the respective elongated gear 118 so as to occupy a selected axial position along the length of such gear to make the length of the stroke of the worm gear 125 and hence the guide pulley adjustable, so that the limit of outward travel of such worm gear 125 and wire guide pulley 128 will coincide with the location of the outer flange 150 of a given size take-up reel 22. In the exemplification this adjustment is obtained by the provision of a split collar that is locked in place and clamped around the respective elongated spur gear 118 at a selected location thereon by a machine screw 152.

Referring to FIG. 4, three electric resistance heater elements, heater A, heater B and heater C, of the oven 16 are arranged to be energized from a 230 volt, three phase, 60 cycle lines L1, L2 and L3 by way of relay contact lPC. The relay contacts 1PC in turn are operated by an oven heat control relay coil lPC, deenergization of which is controlled by an oven heat controller having contacts S-4 and which is controlled by a thermocouple disposed withinthe oven housing. The oven heat controller may be one of well known suitable commercial design and this in turn is brought into operation by closure of a manual switch 455. During startup of the apparatus the manual switch 4SS is operated first to energize the oven and bring it up to temperature. When at temperature an indicator light, not shown, will apprise the operator of such fact. At such time the oven will be retracted to its rearward position with a section of the plastic coated wire 5 disposed in front of such oven.

Prior to or during such warm-up of the oven the ink wells 32 affiliated with the two sets of marking rolls l2 and 13 will have been filled to the proper level and inserted in place in the machine, with both sets occupying retracted positions disposed away from the plastic coated wire workpiece.

Prior to or during the time that the oven 16 is being heated up, left and right counter devices (not shown) will be set for the desired number of feet of workpiece wire to be marked by the left and right inking wheel sets, respectively. These counter devices are available commercially from such as the Eagle Signal Division of the E. W. Bliss Company as an impulse count switch, Model 70, for example. The counters LC and RC count electric impulses created by momentary closure of a microswitch lLS operated by a cam on the shaft of the capstan 8 to arrive at a measure of the footage of workpiece wire being color marked by the machine.

By the setting of the right counter and the left counter, contacts LC-A and LC-C affiliated with the left counter and contacts RC-A and RC-C affiliated with the right counter are closed mechanically to be opened later automatically upon realizing the selected number of counts experienced by left counter and right counter solenoids LC-S and ROS, respectively.

When the left counter is set first, the contact LC-C will become closed before the right counter contact RC-C becomes closed. The closing of contact LC-C establishes an energizing circuit across 115 volt, 60-cycle, source lines for a left control relay coil 3CR by way of a normally-closed right control relay contact 4CR-A. Energization of the 3CR relay (coil by) opens up contact 3CR-A and prevents energization of a right control relay 4CR, and it also closes left control relay contacts 3CR-C and 3CR-D. Closing of the left counter LC-C also energizes a left head print delay relay coil lTR to close its contact lTR after a short delay which thereupon enables the energizing of circuits for left counter solenoid LC-S and a left heat unlock solenoid Ll-lU-S. Thus the left counter solenoid LC-S is thereby rendered effective to count the number of pulses established by opening and closing the capstan-operated switch lLS, while the energization of the left head unlock solenoid LHU-S attracts the lockout member affiliated with the left set, of inking rolls 12 and hold-down fingers 34 to enable same to be operated by their respective cams 76 and 96 affiliated with the main drive shaft 73.

Conversely, if the right counter is set before the left counter is set, the closing of the right counter switch RC-C establishes an energizing circuit for a right control relay 4CR by way of a normally-closed left control relay contact 3CR-A, as well as for a right head print delay relay 2TR. Energization of the right control relay 4CR will open up its normally-closed contact 4CR-A and prevent the subsequent closure of the left control relay contact LC-C from effecting energization of the left head print delay relay lTR and the left control relay JCR. Upon time-out of the 2TR right head print delay relay, its contact 2TR becomes closed to establish energizing circuits for the right head unlock solenoid RHU-S by way of a right control relay contact 4CR-C and establish an energizing circuit for the right counter solenoid RC-S by way of a right control relay contact 4CR-D. The right head unlock solenoid RHU-S thus becomes effective to actuate the lockout lever affiliated with the right set 13 of inking rolls l4 and hold-down fingers 34 to enable such right-hand set of inking rolls to be effective rather than the left. The significance of the left and right head print delay relays lPR and ZTR is without meaning during the startup, but upon automatic switchover from one inking roll set to the other upon count-down of the first-to-be-set counter provides a space along the length of the workpiece wire 5 which will be of greater unmarked length than the normal interval between marking groups to signify the end of one color code run and the next.

Having thus set the left and right counter switch mechanisms and the order in which it is desired they bring the left and right inking wheel sets into effectiveness, and after having waited for the oven to come up to heat, the PB-l start switch is depressed momentarily to establish a 115 volt energizing circuit for main control relay lCR by way of the one, the other, or both of the left and right counter contacts LC-A and RC-A, according to whether the one or both of these has been preset. Energization of the main control relay lCR closes a hold contact lCR-A parallel with the pushbutton start switch PB-l, as well as its other contact lCR-B to energize the main drive motor control contactor coil 3M and its contacts 3M, a contact lCR-C to effectuate control of the payout and take-up reel motors 1M and 2M, as aforedescribed, and lCR- D to energize the oven actuator solenoid OA-S for effecting pressurization of the actuator cylinder 61 to cause the oven 16 to be moved forwardly around the respective section of the wire workpiece. Operation of the main drive motor MTR-3 at a rate determined by a setting of the speed control device, effects turning of the main drive shaft 73 as well as the intermittent turning movement of the capstan 8 for effecting the intermittent longitudinal advancement of the plastic coated workpiece wire 5. As will be appreciated from foregoing description that the turning of the main drive shaft 73 operates the left and right inking roll cams and the hold-down finger cams, the one set of which will be prevented from following the dictates of the cams by virtue of the position of the respective lockout member due to deenergization of its solenoid LHU-S or RHU-S. The turning movement of the auxiliary shaft 87 from the main drive shaft 73 maintains rotation of both sets 12, 13 of marking wheels 14 through the different colored inks disposed in the wells affiliated with such wheels. At the same time, the main drive shaft 73 drives the crank arm 72 to turn the wire twisting die 11 back and forth as the wire is moved intermittently therethrough by operation of the capstan 8 past the marking and heating stations. Due to the mechanical correlation between turning of the main drive shaft 73, disposition of the several cams, and intermittent rotary movement of the capstan 8, each time the wire is momentarily halted at intervals at the marking station, the effective set of inking rolls and hold-down fingers are actuated by their cams to bring same into engagement with the periphery of the wire 5, which, in being turned back and forth by the twisting die, has ink from the inking rolls l4 inscribed thereon circumferentially in the adjacent bands 130 of selected colors according to the code number desired to be indicated. At the same time, the other set of inking rolls and hold-down fingers are maintained ineffective by the respective lockout member 104 which prevents the followers and follower arms affiliated with such set from following the dictates of the respective cams.

Once the capstan-operated switch lLS has been operated a suitable number of times by the cam 160 affiliated with the capstan shaft to satisfy the setting of the first-adjusted counter switch the respective solenoid LC-S or RC-S will open its respective contacts lLC-C or RC-C, as the case may be. In the case of opening of the left counter contacts LC-C, for example, the left control relay 3CR becomes deenergized and its normally-closed contacts 3CR-A become reclosed to energize the right control relay 4CR by way of the right counter switch contacts RC-C which remain closed. Energization of the right control relay 4CR causes opening of its normallyclosed contacts 4CR-A and closure of its contacts 4CR-C and 4CR-D to cause the right counter switch solenoid RC-S to start counting the capstan-operated switch pulses from the switch lLS and to energize the right head unlock solenoid RHU-S to render the right-hand set of inking rolls and holddown fingers responsive to the dictates of the cams by retraction of the respective lockout member 104. At the same time, deenergization of the left control relay SCR opens up its switches 3CR-C and 3CR-D to ineffectuate the left counter solenoid LC-S as well as the left head unlocking solenoid LHUS to effectuate the left-hand lockout member 104 and render the left-hand set 12 of inking'rolls and hold-down fingers ineffective. At the time of such switchover from left to right, the time delay relay ZTR, which becomes energized jointly with the right control relay 4CR, will delay closing of its contacts ZTR for several seconds to provide a space separation between the color markings previously imparted by lefthand inking roll set 12 and those subsequently imparted by the right-hand inking roll set 13. During the time that one particular set of inking rolls is thus inactivated by automatic switchover to the other set of inking rolls, the ink in the idle set of rolls can be replaced for a change to different colors as desired, and its respective counter switch device reset according to the number of feet desired to be marked by the new set of counters, and the controls will automatically switch to the new set of colors to maintain operation of the inking rolls according to the new setting of its respective counter in the manner as described above.

To stop the machine, as for purpose of introducing or replacing an empty payout reel, and or replacing a fully wound take-up reel, a stop button PB-Z is momentarily depressed to result in deenergization of the main control relay lCR which responds to open its hold contact lCR-A and its contacts lCR-B, lCR-C and lCR-D and which results in deenergization of the 3M relay coil and opening of its contacts 3M to stop the main drive motor Milli-3, disabling of the payout reel and take-up reel motor control circuits, and deenergization of the oven actuator solenoid OA-S to cause the pneumatic cylinder 61 to affect rearward retraction of the oven 16 out of the path of travel of the workpiece wire 5. The oven energization control switch 4S5 may be allowed to remain closed to maintain the oven at temperature in preparation for restarting of the machine.

We claim:

1. A wire marking machine for marking color code bands circumferentially around plastic coated wire at longitudinal intervals therealong, comprising:

separately operable motorized wire payout and take-up reels;

a pair of yieldable wire payout and take-up looping mean respective to the two reels; control means for effecting operation of the two reels periodically to unwind and wind wire to and from the two looping means, respectively;

pulley and intermittently-driven capstan means for intermittent advancement of wire from the payout looping means longitudinally along straight path through marking and heating stations to the take-up looping means;

an oscillatory wire-twisting means for turning the wire about its axis while disposed along such path;

two independently-controllable sets of inking wheels actuable into peripheral contact with the wire for marking circumferential color bands on the plastic coating of such wire while being turned by the wire-twisting means and retractable away from such contact;

motor operated means for effecting such actuation and retraction of the inking wheel sets in synchronism with periods of longitudinal arrest and advancement of the wire, respectively;

a retractable electric resistance oven disposed at the heating station having a longitudinal slot opening inwardly from its front face to its interior to accommodate forward movement of the oven to an operative position around the wire for heating the ink markings thereon and rearward movement of the oven to a retracted position outside the wire; and v operator controlled means operable to effectuate the two sets of inking wheels automatically in sequence according to marking of preselected lengths of wire respective to such sets.

2 The wire marking machine of claim L further comprisingan adjustable-stroke level wind mechanismfor directing the color marked wire from the take-up loop means onto the takeupreel. I U

3. The wire marking machine of claim I, wherein the operator controlled means includes means for interrupting operation of the intermittently-driven capstan means and simultaneous automatic retraction of the oven.

4. The wire marking machine of claim 1, wherein cams on a motor-driven capstan-driving shaft control actuation of the two sets of inking wheels and selectively-controlled cam follower lockout means provide for the selective effectuation of the two sets of inking wheels.

5. The wire marking machine of claim 1, further including ink wells into which the bottoms of the inking wheels project, respectively, and means for turning such wheels to distribute ink from such wells onto the peripheries of such wheels. 

